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Get prints at a Photo
Lab
There are distinct advantages of digital photography:
• Instant
gratification. See and share the photo you just took on the LCD screen
on the back of the camera.
• Shoot
away. Since you are able to delete photos that you do not want, you
have the freedom to shoot many photos of the same scene, and just keep the
one or two that turned out the best. Once you discover this, you have
another great way to capture memories.
• Every
print’s a winner. Gone are the days of shooting a whole roll of film
to get a few good pictures! With digital photography, you only print the
best shots. And you can get prints made at your favorite photo store just
as you do with film.
• Options.
Whether it’s 4-by-6-inch prints to put in your photo album, homemade
greeting cards printed on your inkjet printer, or sharing your photos
online, digital photography opens up a whole new world of options for your
memories.
•
Get real photo prints
– Depending on the resolution of your digital
camera, you can get beautiful, real photographic prints from 4-by-6 inches
up to 16-by-20 inches and larger. The sharpness and quality rival that of
film, so you don’t have to give up your photo albums or scrapbooks!
What do I do
with my digital photos?
Get real photo
prints – Depending on the
resolution of your digital camera, you can get beautiful, REAL
photographic prints from 4-by-6 inches up to 16-by-20 inches and larger.
The sharpness and quality rival that of film, so you don’t have to give
up your photo albums or scrapbooks!
Local photo
lab – Most local photo labs have
the capability to make real photos from your digital camera memory card,
usually within an hour. You can hand the salesperson your camera, memory
card, CD, etc., or e-mail or upload the photos to their website, and then
pick them up an hour later. This is the most timely and convenient way to
get pictures from your digital camera.
Digital Photo
Kiosk – Self-service photo kiosks
are popping up everywhere, from local photo labs to drug stores to hotel
lobbies. Depending upon the system, you will have the option of either
printing your photos right at the kiosk or picking them up at the counter
later on. Most systems give you the freedom to remove red eye, crop and
alter the photos before printing so you know exactly what you’re going to
get. This is a perfect option for those who want to review and enhance
their photos without getting on their computer to do so.
2. Online
photo sharing – After you purchase
your digital camera, you may want to find an online service where you can
upload your photos. Most photo retailers offer this, and there are also
many “dot-com” companies that offer online photo sharing.
Here’s how it works:
a. Upload your
digital photos into “albums” on the Web, categorized by date or event (or
any other classification you choose).
b. Add, delete,
edit/enhance, add captions, etc., to your photos.
c. Send your
friends and family the link to your online photo album for them to view
instantly. (Imagine sending out a birth announcement with all the photos
of the event hours after the baby is born!)
d. Those who
view your album may run a slide show, enlarge images, or even order
pictures directly from the website.
Tips to making
great prints
1.
Keep your camera set at the highest possible resolution and lowest
compression settings.
2.
Avoid using Digital Zoom – while digital zoom may get you closer to your
subject, it often produces an image that is distorted and fuzzy.
3.
Video cameras – if you’re planning on shooting still photos, use a still
camera. While video cameras are capable of shooting still shots, the
quality is not even close to what you can get with a digital still camera.
4.
Cameraphones and PDAs – Everyone is carrying cameraphones and PDAs these
days, and most of the new ones have built-in cameras. The resolution of
these cameras are usually very low, however, and not optimized for
keepsake quality prints. If you do want to make prints from these devices,
you can usually remove their media card and put them in your computer just
like any other media card.
5.
Always make a backup – there is always a possibility of losing the digital
information on your memory card or your computer’s hard drive, so save
your digital images until you have prints or CD-ROM ”Digital Negatives”
made.
6. If burning a CD of
the images to print at home, be sure it actually worked before bringing
the CD into the lab.
Can a photo
lab print from my digital file?
There are some distinct advantages to a lab print, too.
Labs are set up to make good prints time-after-time, day-after-day. They
can give you prints on traditional photo paper. These papers are more
permanent than inkjet prints and will last as long as any color print. You
can get larger prints more easily from a photo lab. Some of the newest
digital printers do superb prints for sizes 11-by-14, 16-by-20, 20-by-30
inches and even larger.
Prints from a photo lab have more traditional heft and
texture to them, which some people prefer. You can have multiple copies
printed fairly fast (inkjets print out images one-at-a-time, slowly). The
right file will be determined by the lab, so always check with them.
Usually, it will be a TIFF or JPEG file, with enough data to drive the
size of print you need. This will depend on the type of digital printer
the lab is using. They may ask for a file size (e.g., 20 MB) or a photo
size (8-by-10-inches at 300 dpi). It is also a good idea to send along a
small inkjet proof print if you can so the lab knows what you expect the
image to look like. |
